TAAA-DAAAAAHHH! OoOoohhhhh..Isn’t he handsome.. YES he IS! Before you get too jealous, though, I must confess. This is not MY fridge. No. It belongs to my landlord. But I pretend it’s mine. PS: If you want to store the contents of your lunch in MY fridge, you must ask first.

Let’s take a look inside..

As you can see, my landlord has quite a nice fridge. My husband & I like to stock it with fresh local produce and less local, but still altogether terrific, alcohol. Since we are no longer in West Philly, and I am no longer hosting a CSA on my front porch, we have now joined a new CSA here in Maine. It is GREAT. Except for the beets. Which are beautiful, but taste like BEETS. YIKES! I just noticed that *Smiling Hill* milk on the bottom shelf is no longer blue. What do I mean – BLUE milk? WELL. Up here in Maine, they sell Blue Milk. It’s called BLUEBERRY MILK! and it is unbelievably delicious. It normally looks like THIS (many thanks to Joe Shlabotnik):

And is a delightful purple-blue. But now that my blueberry milk has turned a pallid WHITE I am thinking that’s not too good. From the photo, it also appears to be separating. Oh my. Note to self: remove blue white blueberry milk. PS: remember to turn head while pouring out. PPS: Now that there is space; buy more wine.

Here is my landlord’s freezer.

YES, we do like ice cream! In fact, we LOVE it!! Except that spangly stars n’ stripes kind, which I can’t get my kids to eat. They do like those frozen fish sticks, though. YOU TOO?? Well.. I’ll ask, but I’m not sure they’ll share. You can always come over for some stars n’ stripes ice cream, though. Or a nice glass of milk.

Today I would like to talk about a subject most normal people enjoy. CANDY! Specifically, Red Licorice. I love red licorice (even if it’s not *technically* licorice). I also love black licorice (the real stuff) but we are not talking about that here.

I took the above photo of a red licorice twist this morning. PLEASE NOTE:

there are no visible bite marks on the candy.

there is a lot of UNEATEN CANDY in this photo.

Coincidence? I think not. Two Words: RED VINES.

You wouldn’t think red licorice would be such a divisive topic, but it is. Much along the lines of the great Coke v. Pepsi debate, red licorice lovers tend to fall into one of 2 camps depending upon which brand they prefer: Red Vines or Twizzlers. No need to tell you, I’m a Twizzlers girl.

Twizzlers: red “licorice” style candy that looks great and tastes even better. They are soft and pliable. Twizzlers are deliciousness itself.

I have eaten Twizzlers my whole life long. I’ve never cared for other red licorice, but had no strict opinion on Red Vines until just 2 months ago, when I encountered them for the very first time. I was at the Target in South Portland, looking to score some candy for the movies. YOU DO IT TOO, so pipe down. I had a jumbo pack of Twizzlers in my cart when suddenly I spied a snazzy blue package on a lower shelf.

WOW. ATTRACTIVE!! I’d heard of Red Vines before, but when I read that they’re VERY LOW SODIUM, WELL. I booted those Twizzlers faster than you can say LICK-OR-RISH. Me & the Red Vines proceeded to the checkout and the Vines rode up front on the way home. I was SO EXCITED TO TRY THEM!!!! I had a Vine in my mouth before I’d even hit the kitchen. Luckily for me I was near a trash can when I started to chew.. because [gag] First time in my life I had to SPIT OUT CANDY. That Red Vine chewed like plastic and tasted worse. It was hardly sweet, and there was this sort of wheaty flavor going on, uggggghhhhh. Not good. I ran to brush my teeth, but the vileness remained.

Afterward, I went to put them in the trash, but.. Wait. I thought twice. Were they really that bad? Like any good mother, I wanted to test them out. ON MY KIDS. BWAHAHAHH!!!

SO. When they got home, I tried pawning the Red Vines off on them. Did they pass muster?

Now, you might think I am truly horrible for doing that to my kids. HECK NO! Any good mother will tell you. Delicious Candy = FAT KIDS w/ ROTTEN TEETH & DIABETES. I knew that candy tasted like crap – they weren’t going to eat it. BUT I looked GOOD for giving it to them. Mommy gave us candy = Nice Mommy. Those Red Vines. They’re still sitting here, 2 months later. No one’ll touch em w/ a stick. I really should be calling up those Red Vines folks and thanking them for doing their service to America’s children. But – between you & me, I’m afraid they’ll send me some as a Thank You.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for… has FINALLY ARRIVED. YES FOLKS, everyone’s favorite SLOB, the divine Curly Wurly Gurly, has come to PHILLY. And I was there to document every fantabulous moment.

So go grab some candy, sit back, relax, and click HERE to watch the world premier of MY VERRRY FIRST MOVIE EVERRRR!!